My previous experience in teaching has unfortunately been in Christian schools, which means I had to teach either sheltered Christian kids, or unsheltered pagan kids whose parents wanted the school to “fix” their kids for them. Too much of the discipline at Christian schools, unfortunately, falls back on legalism. I tried to avoid being a legalistic teacher—sometimes to the annoyance of my administrators—but beating the kids over the heads with the scriptures reminded me too much of my own childhood, and I didn’t want to repeat that mistake.
Unfortunately, I realize I still have a little bit of that legalism in me. It’s all the more obvious in a public school—and because of the separation of church and state, you absolutely cannot fall back on Christian legalism. It’s simply inappropriate to hold non-Christian kids to Christian standards. So I’ve been watching the ways in which my “master teacher” (that’s the title they give him) deals with them.
Fr’instance, one of the kids was reading The Satanic Bible in class. Not that he’s particularly interested in becoming a Satanist; he’s curious. Heck, I’m curious about what that book says. Knowing what I do about the teachings of pop-culture Satanism, I’m sure it’s just the “do whatever you want so long as it hurts no one else” philosophy, padded to fill 200 pages. But as a Christian theologian, I know better than to fall for such a philosophy. What, on the other hand, about a high-schooler who would find this philosophy greatly appealing? …Especially if he wants to rebel for the sake of rebellion. What better way to horrify the parents than to join the church of Satan?
The way my master teacher dealt with it was brilliant: “You know,” he says, “I know a few Satanists, and I’ve noticed that every one of them is an
The boy had to admit that yes, this was his experience with Satanists also. Then he put the book away, and that was that.
I just found the whole thing brilliant. I wouldn’t have used that term to describe Satanists, but it perfectly describes the few that I’ve met. They’re the most self-centered, unpleasant people I’ve ever met. (And I reached this conclusion before I discovered they were Satanists.) Of course, it’s because of the philosophy—and most Satanists have apparently dropped the “so long as it hurts no one else” part of it. The only people who would want to join such a religion would be those who want an excuse to be self-centered and unpleasant; thus its appeal to high school students. But deep down, few want to have traits that alienate others.
…Well, maybe traits that alienate annoying people. But that’s about it.